A massive highside on lap 6 of the opening race at Donington last weekend resulted in the crushing of Troy Bayliss’ small finger on his right hand. Surgery was necessary to remove two bones from that finger, but Bayliss is resting easy and expects to be on the grid at the next WSB round in two weeks. Here is Ducati’s press release on the condition of its World champion.
Bologna (Italy), Tuesday 3 April 2007: Ducati Xerox Team rider Troy Bayliss has returned to his Monte Carlo home following an operation on his injured hand on Sunday afternoon in the UK.
The Australian had a weekend of ups and downs at Donington Park. First on Friday he celebrated his 38th birthday, on Saturday he set pole position and then he high-sided out at Coppice on lap 6 of the first race on Sunday. He was taken to the Clinica Mobile in the circuit, but doctors decided to send him to the nearby Derbyshire Royal Infirmary for immediate surgery. The operation consisted of the removal of the top two bones (intermediate and distal phalanges) of the little finger of his right hand. During the crash Troy had also received a powerful blow in the groin region and due to concerns, specialists at the Derby hospital also carried out checks in that area before giving him the OK to leave.
Troy was discharged late on Monday afternoon and flew back to Monte Carlo.
Troy Bayliss is now resting at home and he will undergo a reassessment of his injuries on Friday. Race regulations require a further medical check on Thursday of next week before Troy can be declared fit to race, but all signs point to the Australian being able to return to the track for the next round of the World Superbike championship at Valencia on April 13-15.
“The crash happened so quickly that I don’t remember my hand going under the handlebar or anything” declared Troy. “The only thing I remember when I stopped was pain in my groin, I didn’t feel the hand at all. Basically I crashed through corner speed, trying to make a gap on James which I was doing and in this one corner the back came around on me and went into a slide/chatter. Normally I would save it but Coppice has a little rise and the bike came back as it crested the rise and that set it off in a different direction and I didn’t have a chance at saving it. I’m confident I’m going to be fine for Valencia. It’s hard to say after one day but I feel like things are coming along OK and I’ve still got plenty of days to recover. I feel like I can get on a motorbike now but I won’t know that until I do. Hopefully in just a week and a half you’ll see the usual Troy!”.
David Mitchell, the newly-appointed head of brand and marketing communications of Xerox Europe who met Troy for the first time at the Donington weekend, declared: “On behalf of Xerox, I would like to express our concern for Troy’s wellbeing. Our thoughts are with him after Sunday’s horrible accident and we wish him a speedy recovery. Along with the team and all his race fans, we are all looking forward to him getting back out on the track again as soon as possible.”
